001 Knowledge and Virtue
Knowledge is one thing, virtue is another; good sense is not conscience, refinement is not humility, nor is largeness and justness of view faith.
Philosophy, however enlightened, however profound, gives no command over the passions, no influential motives, no vivifying principles. Liberal Education makes not the Christian, not the Catholic, but the gentleman.
It is well to be a gentleman, it is well to have a cultivated intellect, a delicate taste, a candid, equitable, dispassionate mind, a noble and courteous bearing in the conduct of life—these are the connatural qualities of a large knowledge; they are the objects of a University.
I am advocating, I shall illustrate and insist upon them; but still, I repeat, they are no guarantee for sanctity or even for conscientiousness, and they may attach to the man of the world, to the profligate, to the heartless, pleasant, alas, and attractive as he shows when decked out in them.
Taken by themselves, they do but seem to be what they are not; they look like virtue at a distance, but they are detected by close observers, and in the long run; and hence it is that they are popularly accused of pretense and hypocrisy, not, I repeat, from their own fault, but because their professors and their admirers persist in taking them for what they are not, and are officious in arrogating for them a praise to which they have no claim.
Quarry the granite rock with razors, or moor the vessel with a thread of silk, then may you hope with such keen and delicate instruments as human knowledge and human reason to contend against those giants, the passion and the pride of man.
001 知识是一回事，美德是另一回事。好意并非良心，优雅并非谦让，广博与公正的观点也并非信仰。哲学，无论多么富有启迪和深奥莫测，都无法驾驭情感，不具备有影响力的动机，不具有导致生动活泼的原理。文科教育并不造就基督教徒抑或天主教徒，而是造就了绅士。造就一个绅士诚为美事。有教养的才智，优雅的情趣，正直、公正而冷静的头脑，高贵而彬彬有礼的举止--这些是与渊博的学识生来固有的品质, 它也是大学教育的目的。对此我提倡之，并将加以阐释和坚持。然而我要说的是，它们仍然不能确保圣洁，或甚至不能保证诚实。它们可以附庸于世故的俗人，附庸于玩世不恭的浪子。唉，当他们用它伪装起来时，就更增加了他们外表上的冷静、快活和魅力。就其本身而言，它们似乎已远非其本来面目，它们似乎一远看的美德，经久久细察方可探知。因此它们受到广泛的责难，指责其虚饰与伪善。我要强调，这绝非是因为其自身有什么过错，而是因为教授们和赞美者们一味地把它们弄得面目全非，并且还要殷勤地献上其本身并不希冀的赞颂。如若用剃刀就可以开采出花岗岩，用丝线即能系泊位船只，那么，也许你才能希望用人的知识和理性这样美妙而优雅的东西去与人类的情感与高傲那样的庞然大物进行抗争。
Virtu 美德,优点;贞操
Kindness is but one of his virtues.
善良仅是他的美德之一.
"Patience is a virtue" is an old saying.
"忍耐是美德"是句古老的谚语.
conscience 良心
I got nothing to hide. My conscience is clear.
我没有什么隐瞒的。我问心无愧.
refinement 精致,高尚,精巧
a person of great refinement
温文尔雅的人
profound 极深的,深奥的,深厚的
Her parents' divorce had a profound effect on her life.
她父母的离异对她的生活有很深的影响.
He was in a state of profound shock.
他深受震惊.
It's a profound book.
那是一本深奥的书.
vivify .赋予生命，使有生气,使生气勃勃
candid 忠实的,率直的,坦诚的
To be candid, I don't like your hairstyle.
坦率地说,我不喜欢你的发式.
courteous 有礼貌的
A hostess should be courteous to her guests.
女主人应该待客殷勤
It was very courteous of you to send my mother a thank-you note. 你寄谢函给我母亲真周到.
bearing 举止
She is a girl of noble bearing.
她是一个举止端庄的姑娘.
connatural 先天的,固有的,同性质的
sanctity 神圣,尊严,圣洁
conscientiousness 责任心
profligate 放荡的,不检点的,浪费的
in the long run 从长远看来(归根到底,结局,最后,结果)
Real ability will win in the long run.
真正的才能最终会使人获得成功的.
It pays in the long run to buy goods of high quality.
买优质产品终归是合算的.
You may make good grades by studying only before examinations,but you will succeed in the long run by studying hard every day.
你考试前才看书也许会取得好成绩,不过你若每天努力学习最终定会成功.
officious 多管闲事的,非官方的
We were tired of being pushed around by officious civil servants.
我们厌恶那些把我们支来支去的公务员.
quarry 采石场,猎获物,出处
razor 剃刀
vessel 船,容器,脉管
keen 锋利的,敏锐的,强烈的
006 A Tribute to the Dog
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The best friend a man has in the world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name may become traitors to their faith.
The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us, may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads.
The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog. A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer.
He will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings, and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the
sun in its journey through the heavens.
If fortune drives the master forth, an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him, to guard him against danger, to fight against his enemies. And when the last scene of all comes, and death takes his master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by the graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad, but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even in death.
一个人在世上最好的朋友会和他反目，成为他的敌人。他悉心养育的儿女会不忠不孝。那些和我们最亲近的人，那些我们以幸福和美名信赖的人会背信弃义。一个人拥有的金钱会失去，也许就在他最需要的时候。一个人的名誉会因瞬间的不当之举而丧失贻尽。那些当我们功成名就时跪拜向我们致敬的人也许是第一个在失败的阴云笼罩我们时对我们投石下井。在这个自私的世界里，一个人能有的最无私的，从不抛弃他，从不知恩不报，从不背信弃义的朋友是他的狗。
无论富有或贫穷，无论健康或是患病，一个人的狗总佇立在主人身旁。如果能和主人在一起，它愿意睡在冰冷的地上，任凭寒风凛冽，朔雪飘零。它愿意亲吻没有食物奉送的手；它愿意舔抚艰难人世带来的创痕。它守卫着穷主人安睡如同守卫王子。当所有的朋友离去，它留驻。当财富不翼而飞，当名誉毁之贻尽，它仍然热爱着主人，如日当空，亘古不变。如果在命运驱使下，主人被世人抛弃，众叛亲离，无家可归，忠诚的狗仅仅要求能陪伴主人，守卫他免遭危险，去和他的敌人搏斗。
当最后的时刻来临，死神拥抱着主人，他的驱体掩埋在冰冷的黄土之下，任凭所有的朋友风流云散，就在墓地旁，你可以看见那高尚的狗，它的头伏在两爪之间，双眼神情悲伤，却警觉注视着，忠诚至死。
jury:陪审团
turn against:敌视,反对
Even those who were once for him began to turn against him.
连那些原来支持他的人也开始反对他了.
rear:抚养
Her mother died of cancer and her aunt reared her.
她母亲因癌症去世,她姨妈将她抚养大.
be prone to:有...倾向的,易于...的
Mother is prone to headaches.
我母亲经常头痛.
malice: 恶意;敌意;怨恨
She did it from pure malice.
她做这事纯粹是恶意.
treacherous:背叛的;不忠的;奸诈的
He was cruel, treacherous and unscrupulous.
他残忍、奸诈、不择手段.
008 Address by Engels
"On the 14th of March, at a quarter to three in the afternoon, the greatest living thinker ceased to think. He had been left alone for scarcely two minutes, and when we came back we found him in his armchair, peacefully gone to sleep-but forever.
"An immeasurable loss has been sustained both by the militant proletariat of Europe and America, and by historical science, in the death of this man. The gap that has been left by the departure of this mighty spirit will soon enough make itself felt.
"Just as Darwin discovered the law of development of organic nature, so Marx discovered the law of development of human history: the simple fact, hitherto concealed by an overgrowth of ideology, that mankind must first of all eat, drink, have shelter and clothing, before it can pursue politics, science, art, religion, etc.; that therefore the production of the immediate material means of subsistence and consequently the degree of economic development attained by a given people or during a given epoch form the foundation upon which the state institutions, the legal conceptions, art, and even the ideas on religion, of the people concerned have been evolved, and in the light of which they must, therefore, be explained, instead of vice versa, as had hitherto been the case.
"But that is not all. Marx also discovered the special law of motion governing the present-day capitalist mode of production and the bourgeois society that this mode of production has created. The discovery of surplus value suddenly threw light on the problem, in trying to solve which all previous investigations, of both bourgeois economists and socialist critics, had been groping in the dark.
"Two such discoveries would be enough for one lifetime. Happy the man to whom it is granted to make even one such discovery. But in every single field which Marx investigated -- and he investigated very many fields, none of them superficially -- in every field, even in that of mathematics, he made independent discoveries.
3月14日下午两点三刻，当代最伟大的思想家停止思想了。他一个人留在房间里还不到两分钟，等我们再进去的时候，他已经坐在安乐椅上静静地睡去了──永远睡去了。
这个人的逝去，对于战斗着的欧美无产阶级来说，对于历史科学来说，都是不可估量的损失。这位巨人逝去后所形成的空白，在不久的将来，我们就会感觉到。
正如达尔文发现生物界的发展规模一样，马克思发现了人类历史的发展规律，即历来为各种思想体系所重重掩盖着的一个简单事实：人们首先必须有了衣食住行，然后才能从事政治、
科学、艺术、宗教等活动，所以，直接的物质的生产资料的生产，因而一个民族和一个时代的经济发展阶段，便构成为基础，人们的国家制度、法律规定、艺术乃至宗教观念便是在这个基础上发展起来的，因此也就必须从这个基础出发来加以说明，而不是像过去那样本末倒置。
不仅如此，马克思还发现了现代资本主义生产方式以及因它所产生的资产阶级社会的特殊运动规律。无论资产阶级经济学家或社会主义批评家过去所作的一切研究都只是在黑暗中摸索，而随着剩余价值的发展，这一领域就豁然开朗了。
一个人能有这样两项发现，可以说是不虚此生了。甚至只要能做出一项这样的发现，也已经是幸福的了。可是，马克思在他所研究的每一个领域，甚至在数学领域，都有独到的发现。这样的领域很多，而且对其中任何一个领域的研究，都不是肤浅的。
Cease: to stop happening or existing; to stop sth from happening or existing （使）停止，终止，结束
Welfare payments cease as soon as an individual starts a job.
一旦就业，即停发福利救济.
You never cease to amaze me!
你总能让我感到惊奇!
They voted to cease strike action immediately.
他们投票决定立即停止罢工.
He ordered his men to cease fire(= stop shooting).
他命令手下人停止射击.
The company ceased trading in June.
这家公司已于六月停业.
conceal: to hide sb/sth 隐藏；隐瞒；掩盖
The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster.
那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
For a long time his death was concealed from her.
他的死瞒了很长时间都没告诉她。
Tim could barely conceal his disappointment.
蒂姆几乎掩饰不住自己的失望。
She sat down to conceal the fact that she was trembling.
她坐下来以不让人看出她在发抖。
Subsistence: the state of having just enough money or food to stay alive 勉强维持生活 Many families are living below the level of subsistence.
许多家庭难以度日。
to live at/above/below (the) subsistence level
在最低生活水平线上╱以上╱以下
They had no visible means of subsistence.
他们生计无着。
subsistence agriculture/farming(= growing enough only to live on, not to sell)
收成仅够自身口粮的生存农业
subsistence crops
生存作物
He worked a 16-hour day for a subsistence wage(= enough money to buy only basic necessities). 他一天工作 16 小时的工资仅够活命。
Vice versa: used to say that the opposite of what you have just said is also true 反过来也一样；反之亦然
You can cruise from Cairo to Aswan or vice versa(= also from Aswan to Cairo).
你可以乘船从开罗游览到阿斯旺，也可以从阿斯旺游览到开罗。
009 Relationship That Lasts
If somebody tells you, " I'll love you for ever," will you believe it?
I don't think there's any reason not to. we are ready to believe such commitment at the moment, whatever change may happen afterwards. As for the belief in an everlasting love, that's another thing.
Then you may be asked whether there is such a thing as an everlasting love. I'd answer i believe in it. But an everlasting love is not immutable.
You may unswervingly love or be loved by a person. But love will change its composition with the passage of time. It will not remain the same. In the course of your growth and as a result of your increased experience, love will become something different to you.
In the beginning you believed a fervent love for a person could last indefinitely. By and by, however," fervent" gave way to " prosaic" . Precisely because of this change it became possible for love to last. Then what was meant by an everlasting love would eventually end up in a sort of interdependence.
We used to insist on the difference between love and liking. The former seemed much more beautiful than the latter. one day, however, it turns out there's really no need to make such difference. Liking is actually a sort of love. By the same token, the everlasting interdependence is actually an everlasting love.
I wish i could believe there was somebody who would love me forever. That's, as we all know, too romantic to be true. Instead, it will more often than not be a case of lasting relationship.
假如有人对你说，我永远爱你，你是否会相信呢?
我想不到有什么理由不相信。无论将来变成怎样，那一刻，我们会愿意相信这个承诺。是否相信有永远的爱，那又是另一回事。
你也许永远爱一个人，或永远被一个人所爱。但是，爱的成分会在年月中改变。爱不是只有一样。当你成长，当你经历愈来愈多的事情，你对爱的体会也会不一样了。
从前所相信的永远，是永远炽热地爱一个人。后来的永远，也许是从炽热走到平淡。因为平淡，才可以更长久。然后，所谓永远，有一天又会变成互相依存。
我们曾经坚持把爱和喜欢分开。爱是比喜欢美丽许多的。终有一天，我们开始相信，不必把喜欢和爱分开。喜欢也是一种爱。正如，永远的依存，也是永远的爱。
我希望我能够相信一个人永远地爱我。可是，我们都知道，那只是过于浪漫的想法。永远的关系，反而更有可能.
Commitment: a promise to do sth or to behave in a particular way; a promise to support sb/sth; the fact of committing yourself 承诺;许诺;允诺承担;保证
She doesn't want to make a big emotional commitment to Steve at the moment.
她不想在此刻对史蒂夫在感情上作出重大的承诺.
The company's commitment to providing quality at a reasonable price has been vital to its success. 这家公司保证供货质优价廉的承诺对它的成功起了决定性的作用.
the government's commitment to public services
政府对公共服务事业作出的承诺
Everlasting: continuing for ever; never changing 永久的;永恒的;经久不变的
everlasting life/love
永生;永恒的爱
an everlasting memory of her smile
她的微笑留下的永久回忆
To his everlasting credit, he never told anyone what I'd done.
值得永远称赞的是他从未把我做的事告诉过任何人.
Immutable: that cannot be changed; that will never change unchangeable 不可改变的;永恒不变的
an immutable fact/law
不可更改的事实╱法律
Fervent: having or showing very strong and sincere feelings about sth 热情的;热诚的;热烈的 a fervent admirer/believer/supporter
热诚的仰慕者;虔诚的信徒;热情的支持者
a fervent belief/hope/desire
虔诚的信仰;热望;强烈的愿望
by the same token:for the same reasons 由于同样的原因;同样地
The penalty for failure will be high. But, by the same token, the rewards for success will be great. 失败就要付出沉重的代价,同样,成功就会获得很大的回报.
Turn out: to happen in a particular way; to develop or end in a particular way ,,,地发展(或发生);结果...
Despite our worries everything turned out well.
尽管我们都很担心,结果一切都顺利.
You never know how your children will turn out!
你永远不会知道自己的子女会变成什么样!
If the day turns out wet, we may have to change our plans.
如果那天下雨的话,我们可能得改变计划.
as often as not; more often than not : usually; in a way that is typical of sb/sth 通常;往往;一贯 As often as not, he's late for work.
他上班往往迟到.
012 Night 夜
Night has fallen over the country. Through the trees rises the red moon, and the stars are scarcely seen. In the vast shadow of night the coolness and the dews descend. I sit at the open window to enjoy them; and hear only the voice of the summer wind. Like black hulks, the shadows of the great trees ride at anchor on the billowy sea of grass.
I cannot see the red and blue flowers, but I know that they are there. Far away in the meadow gleams the silver Charles. The tramp of horses' hoofs sounds from the wooden bridge. Then all is still save the continuous wind of the summer night. Sometimes I know not if it be the wind or the sound of the neighboring sea. The village clock strikes; and I feel that I am not alone.
How different it is in the city! It is late, and the crowd is gone. You step out upon the balcony, and lie in the very bosom of the cool, dewy night as if you folded her garments about you. Beneath lies the public walk with trees, like a fathomless, black gulf, into whose silent darkness the spirit plunges, and floats away with some beloved spirit clasped in its embrace.
The lamps are still burning up and down the long street. People go by with grotesque shadows, now foreshortened, and now lengthening away into the darkness and vanishing, while a new one springs up behind the walker, and seems to pass him revolving like the sail of a windmill. The iron gates of the park shut with a jangling clang. There are footsteps and loud voices; — a tumult; — a drunken brawl; — an alarm of fire; — then silence again. And now at length the city is asleep, and we can see the night.
The belated moon looks over the rooftops and finds no one to welcome her. The moonlight is broken. It lies here and there in the squares, and the opening of the streets — angular like blocks of white marble.
夜幕已经笼罩着乡间。一轮红月正从树林后面徐徐升起，天上几乎见不到星星。在这苍茫夜色中，寒气与露水降下来了。我坐在敞开的窗前欣赏着这夜色，耳边只听见那夏天的风声。虽然我见不到红色和蓝色的花朵，但是我知道它们在哪儿。远处的草地上，银色的查尔斯河
闪闪发光。木桥那边传来了踢嗒踢嗒的马啼声。接着，万物俱寂，只留下夏夜不断的风声。有时，我丝毫辨别不出它究竟是风声，还是邻近的海涛声。村子里的时钟敲起来了，于是我觉得并不孤单。
城市的夜晚是那样的不同啊! 夜深了，人群已经散去。你走到阳台上，躺在凉爽和露水弥漫的夜幕中，仿佛你用它作为外衣裹住了你的身子。阳台下面是栽着树木的人行道，像一条深不可测的黑色的海湾，飘忽的精灵就投入了这漆黑沉静的海湾，拥抱着某个所爱的精灵随波荡漾而去。长长的街道上，街灯依然到处亮着。人们从灯下走过，托拽着各种各样奇形怪状的影子，影子时而缩短，时而伸长，最后消失在黑暗之中；同时，一个新的影子又突然出现在那个行路人的身后，这影子好似风车上的翼板一样，转到他身体的前方去了。公园的铁门当啷一声关上，耳边可以听到脚步声和响亮的说话声；一阵喧闹；一阵酒醉后的吵嚷声；一阵火灾的报警声；接着，寂静如初。于是，城市终于沉睡，我们终于能够看到夜的景色。姗姗来迟的月亮从屋顶后面探出脸来,发觉没有人在欢迎她.月光破碎,东一块,西一块,撒落在各个广场上和各条大街的开阔处---像一块块白色的大理石一样棱角分明.
010 Rush 匆匆
Swallows may have gone, but there is a time of return; willow trees may have died back, but there is a time of regreening; peach blossoms may have fallen, but they will bloom again. Now, you the wise, tell me, why should our days leave us, never to return? - If they had been stolen by someone, who could it be? Where could he hide them? If they had made the escape themselves, then where could they stay at the moment?
I don't know how many days I have been given to spend, but I do feel my hands are getting empty. Taking stock silently, I find that more than eight thousand days have already slid away from me. Like a drop of water from the point of a needle disappearing into the ocean, my days are dripping into the stream of time, soundless, traceless. Already sweat is starting on my forehead, and tears welling up in my eyes.
Those that have gone have gone for good, those to come keep coming; yet in between, how swift is the shift, in such a rush? When I get up in the morning, the slanting sun marks its presence in my small room in two or three oblongs. The sun has feet, look, he is treading on, lightly and furtively; and I am caught, blankly, in his revolution. Thus--the day flows away through the sink when I wash my hands, wears off in the bowl when I eat my meal, and passes away before my day-dreaming gaze as reflect in silence. I can feel his haste now, so I reach out my hands to hold him back, but he keeps flowing past my withholding hands. In the evening, as I lie in bed, he strides over my body, glides past my feet, in his agile way. The moment I open my eyes and meet the sun again, one whole day has gone. I bury my face in my hands and heave a sigh. But the new day begins to flash past in the sigh.
What can I do, in this bustling world, with my days flying in their escape? Nothing but to hesitate, to rush. What have I been doing in that eight-thousand-day rush, apart from hesitating? Those bygone days have been dispersed as smoke by a light wind, or evaporated as mist by the morning
sun. What traces have I left behind me? Have I ever left behind any gossamer traces at all? I have come to the world, stark naked; am I to go back, in a blink, in the same stark nakedness? It is not fair though: why should I have made such a trip for nothing!
You the wise, tell me, why should our days leave us, never to return?
也许燕子已经飞去,却终有归来之时;也许柳树已经枯槁,却终有再绿的一天;也许桃花已经凋零,但是它们终会再开花;现在,聪明的你,请告诉我,为什么我们的日子总会离我们远去,不再回头?如果他们被一个人藏起来了,那他会是谁?他能把日子藏在哪儿?如果如果它们逃脱了束缚,那么此时他们又在哪里?
我不知道自己曾被赐予了多少时间,可我却真真切切的感觉两手越来越空.默默的盘算着我所拥有的时光.我发觉八千多天的日子已经从我身边溜走.我的日子缓缓汇入了时间的河流,就像针尖上的一滴水消失在无垠的大海,无声无息.无影无踪.不知不觉,汗水挂上了我的前额,泪水溢满了我的眼眶.
已经远去的早已奔赴美好的前程,将要到来的继续着前行的脚步,然而,这其间的转换为何如此之快,如此行色匆匆?当我起床时,阳光斜射入在我的小屋,留下斑驳的痕迹以证明它的存在.阳光有脚丫,瞧,它正踩着轻盈的步伐偷偷前行着,而我呢,茫然看着它的轮转,就这样,在我洗手时,日子在我洗手的水槽里流走.当我吃饭时,日子在我吃饭的碗里流走,当我作白日梦深深思索时,它在我的凝望里默默离去.现在我分明感觉到了它的急速,于是我伸出手想把它拉回,但它却依然从我紧握的双手里流走.夜里,我躺在床上,它敏捷地跨过我的身体,滑过我的双脚。当我睁开双眼再次见到阳光时,一天已经过去了.我掩住了脸,深深的叹了口气.在这叹气之中,新的日子又一闪而过了.
在这个喧闹的世界里,面对时间的流逝,我能做什么?不是犹豫,就是奋起直追.而在这已经消失的八千多的日子中,除了犹豫不决,我还做过什么?这些过去的时光已经像烟雾般被一阵轻风吹散,或是像雨露般被清晨的阳光照耀到蒸发.我曾经留下了什么踪迹?我留下了任何细微的踪迹了吗?我赤裸裸来到这世界,是否转眼间也将赤裸裸地回去?不公平的是:为什么偏要白白走这一遭啊?
聪明的你,告诉我,为什么我们的日子总是离我们远去,却不再回头?
014 Self-Esteem
Self-esteem is the combination of self-confidence and self-respect—the conviction that you are competent to cope with life's challenges and are worthy of happiness. Self-esteem is the way you talk to yourself about yourself. Self-esteem has two interrelated aspects; it entails a sense of personal efficacy and a sense of personal worth.It is the integrated sum of self-confidence and self-respect. It is the conviction that one is competent to live and worthy of living.
Our self-esteem and self-image are developed by how we talk to ourselves. All of us have conscious and unconscious memories of all the times we felt bad or wrong—they are part of the unavoidable scars of childhood. This is where the critical voice gets started. Everyone has a
critical inner voice. People with low self-esteem simply have a more vicious and demeaning inner voice.
Psychologists say that almost every aspect of our lives—our personal happiness, success, relationships with others, achievement, creativity, dependencies—are dependent on our level of self-esteem. The more we have, the better we deal with things.
Positive self-esteem is important because when people experience it, they feel good and look good, they are effective and productive, and they respond to other people and themselves in healthy, positive, growing ways. People who have positive self-esteem know that they are lovable and capable, and they care about themselves and other people. They do not have to build themselves up by tearing other people down or by patronizing less competent people.
Our background largely determines what we will become in personality and more importantly in self-esteem. Where do feelings of worthlessness come from? Many come from our families, since more than 80% of our waking hours up to the age of eighteen are spent under their direct influence. We are who we are because of where we've been. We build our own brands of self-esteem from four ingredients: fate, the positive things life offers, the negative things life offers and our own decisions about how to respond to fate, the positives and the negatives. Neither fate nor decisions can be determined by other people in our own life. No one can change fate. We can control our thinking and therefore our decisions in life.
自尊是自信和自重的综合体，是一个人深信自己能应付生活的挑战，确信自己有资格享有幸福人生。自尊就是自己如何评价自己。
自尊包括两个相互关联的部分：它源自对个人能力和价值的认识。说到底就是自信和自重的集合体。自尊即是应对生活挑战的信心以及自身存在价值的认同。
我们的自尊和自我形象取决于对自我的评价。对于所有感觉糟糕或难受的时刻，我们每一个人，有意识的或无意识的，都会记得，这其中还包括童年生活留下的不可避免的伤痕。自我批判的声音就是从这里开始产生的。每一个人的内心都会有这个自我批评的声音，而自尊心弱的人仅仅是因为这个内心的声音更多的是一种恶性的、自我贬低的声音而已。
心理学家们认为，个人的幸福感、成功、与他人的关系、成就、创造力、依赖性，包括我们生活的所有方面都取决于我们不同程度的自尊。自尊意识越强，我们就能更好地处理事务。感受到这种积极的自尊是相当重要的，拥有积极的自尊使自己感觉良好，并给别人良好的印象，工作效率提高，更加卓有成效；并且总是以一种健康、积极和发展的态度回应自己或是别人。拥有积极的自尊的人清楚自己受人喜爱，清楚自己能力很强，他们既关心自己也关心别人。他们也不需要通过诋毁比人或对能力不如自己的人摆出一副神气活现的样子来建立自己所谓的地位。
我们的经历在很大程度上决定了本人的个性，而其中最重要的部分是自尊。那么这种无用的自我感觉是从何而来的呢？其实大多是来自我们的家庭，应为在我们18岁之前，我们清醒着的时间80%以上都在家中度过，置身于家庭的直接影响之下。我们的出生决定了我们将会成为哪一种人。我们独有的自尊由两个不同的方面形成：命运，包括生活中遇到的机遇和挫折；以及我们决定如何应对命运，当然也包括机遇和挫折。在我们生活中，其他人既不能控制我们的命运，也不能改变我们的决定。没有人可以改变命运。但是在我们的一生中，我们能控制我们的思想从而控制自己的决定。
Conviction
1. the act of finding sb guilty of a crime in a court of law; the fact of having been found guilty 判罪；定罪；证明有罪
She has six previous convictions for theft. 她有六次盗窃前科。
He plans to appeal against his conviction. 他不服判决，准备上诉。
an offence which carries, on conviction, a sentence of not more than five years' imprisonment 定罪后可判处五年或以下监禁的罪行
2. a strong opinion or belief 坚定的看法（或信念）
strong political/moral convictions
坚定不移的政治╱道德信念
She was motivated by deep religious conviction.
她的行动是出于虔诚的宗教信仰。
a conviction that all would be well in the end
最终一切都会好起来的坚定信念
3. the feeling or appearance of believing sth strongly and of being sure about it 深信；坚信；坚定；肯定
‘Not true!’ she said with conviction.
“不真实！”她肯定地说道。
He said he agreed but his voice lacked conviction.
他说他赞同，但语气不坚定。
The leader's speech in defence of the policy didn't carry much conviction.
那位领导人为政策辩护的讲话不是很有说服力。
Entail: to involve sth that cannot be avoided 牵涉；须要；使必要
The job entails a lot of hard work.
这工作需要十分艰苦的努力。
The girls learn exactly what is entailed in caring for a newborn baby.
姑娘们正好在学怎样照看新生儿。
It will entail driving a long distance every day.
这意味着每天都要长途开车。
Efficacy: the ability of sth, especially a drug or a medical treatment, to produce the results that are wanted （尤指药物或治疗方法的）功效，效验，效力
Vicious: violent and cruel 狂暴的；残酷的
a vicious assault/attack/murder
猛烈的袭击／进攻；残忍的谋杀
a vicious criminal/gang
凶残的罪犯／匪帮
She has a vicious temper.
她性情暴虐。
Demeaning: putting sb in a position that does not give them the respect that they should have 降低身分的；失去尊严的
He found it demeaning to work for his former employee. 他觉得为自己以前的雇员工作有失体面。